“What Makes Us Do This?” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog - The Satisfaction.

Crossing the Finish Line - Thanks to aaacerticates.com

I have wondered for a long time why I spend so many hours searching for that great treasure that might only be an arm's length from me? “Could it be the money, I ask myself?” Yes, the money is nice, but I have been fortune enough to have made a lot of money in other ventures that I have participated in. Those seemed to have only provided me money but never the real satisfaction that I receive from what I am doing today. If they did, I would still be doing them today. So what is the intrigue about antiques and collectibles that seem to grip us and never let go?

You may have reasons that are different than mine and that is okay, but for me it is the satisfaction of making something happen that is competitive. I enjoy competition and in this game I get to compete with the whole world. Where else do you have this opportunity to use your mind in such a way that it makes you an entry in the greatest game on earth. I watched Lebron James last night as he took over the basketball game in the last quarter and you could see this intense expression on his face with every shot. He was not going to let his team lose and that is the feeling that I get not only from my personal transactions but also from those of our club members. We are in a competition with the whole world and I promise you that I will do everything in my power to see that we win.

Even though I might not get to hold the trophy long, still for a moment, it is mine and I am the winner. I know you're asking yourself what am I talking about. Here is an example. As you know I enjoy dealing in Kentucky Art and over the years I have had my share of wonderful paintings by Patty Thum, Harvey Joiner and Carl Brenner but never did I believe that any of my paintings were the top few paintings by that artist so I just kept on searching. Well here is why I think that I keep doing this. I found the Carl Brenner painting that I believe is as good as any painting he ever did. I more than likely will only own it for a short period of time but I will always be able to say I owned it. Just talking about this painting makes the feeling of excitement swell up inside me that I have never felt before in anything that I have done.

I ask, where else can this joy happen to you just from reaching a goal that you have set for yourself? I talk to hundreds of people and believe it or not when I get an email or call from one of you and you have just purchased a treasure, I usually can feel the excitement you are feeling as you share your find with me. That is what keeps me searching and I believe the same can be said for most of you.

Remember that great quote of Martin Luther King “I have a dream”? I believe that each one of us in this sometimes crazy business can say the same thing he did and finding the Carl Brenner painting was the fulfillment of one of my dreams. I would like to hear if any of your dreams have been fulfilled in this business?

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Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

“The Trend is your Friend” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Pottery vs. Glass vs. Paintings.

William A. Slaughter - The Best of the West

Money that you have to invest into inventory should seek the greatest returns possible. What do I mean by this? First, if you are buying items to resell, your cost has to be low enough for you to get the return that will satisfy the rules of buying set out in our guide “31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques and Collectibles.” You will find this very difficult if you are trying to buy items that are in a downtrend because most people don't want to sell their items for less than they have sold for in the past. Yes it is easier to make a profit from items that are trending upward. This is another reason that we don't have to buy everything we see that might be a bargain.

Let me give you some examples. I was attending the sale at Arlington raceway and ran across several Roseville pieces. I thought that if I bought them all I would make a niffty profit. However, the market trend for Roseville had already turned down and when I began to sell those pieces there wasn't a market at the level I thought they should bring. I continued to list these pieces as the market for them continued to slide and at the present time I still own two pieces and hopefully when they are sold I will have broken even. Thank goodness for the rules we use in buying because if I had not negotiated at my price and bought them near where they were priced by the dealer I would have lost my shirt. In Chicago a man without a shirt could get very cold. It would have been best for me if I had passed on these pieces because I knew the market was already declining for them.

Then you must be asking what should we buy? For the past year my major focus has been paintings and I feel the market for art is still very stable and even going up in these treacherous times. During this year I haven't had to sell a single painting for less than a 100% gain. Yes there have been times where I have purchased a painting for $500 that I valued at $3500 or more that just reached $2500 when sold but who would argue with that return.

I just recently purchased a group of paintings that I believe will make the first half of my year a success. This is a market [ Art ] where time works on your side and even if you find that the price you wish for a painting is difficult to achieve just wait awhile and it may even bring more than you thought it would. I do hang a few paintings on my walls at home, in fact Vickie my wife says that there is a painting on any vacant spot in our home. To share with you what can happen, I purchased a painting by a well known artist for $1000 within the last five years and hung it on the wall. Since I use this to decorate with I made very little effort to sell it, but if I had been given an offer of $5000 I am sure it wouldn't be mine today. But let's look at what the art markets have done to its value. I just got a call yesterday and priced it at $12,500 and really don't care if it sells or not. This is the type of market that we want to spend our money in and not those that are in decline.

Let's give thumbs up and down. Art, some glass, toys are differently up while most pottery, figurines, porcelain are down. If you are interested in how I rate other fields just send me an email asking for my opinion and I will be more than glad to give you an answer.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

“Things in Sets” - Daryle Lambert's Antiques and Collectibles Club – They will make you money.

Doulton Bull Terrier - Thanks to shop.pascoeandcompany.com

Yesterday we talked about how to make money with broken items and today our subject is things that come in sets. For you that have read my book “31 Steps to Your Million in Antiques and Collectibles”, you will remember where I talk about the person that is a completist. This is a person that has to obtain everything within his collectible area. Here is where you can take advantage of this collector by knowing the key pieces in each set of item and providing it to complete a collection for that individual.

Within any set of collectibles there is what is known as the key. For example in Royal Doulton there is a series called the K series, that is miniature animals dogs, ducks, pigs and birds that measure two inches or less. The key piece in this series is the Bull Terrier lying down K-14. You may be able to sell the more common pieces in this set for $75 but I have sold the Bull Terrier several times for $500. This same rule applies to coins and you will hear people talking about a key coin in a set and it is usually the most rare of the set with the fewest minted. If you have a common Lincoln cent it may bring you a few cents more than its face value but may fate smile on you and there in that group of pennies on the table is a mint 1909 S – VDB penny. Need I say more. You have just found a treasure. I did my research just a minute ago and found where it could bring you up to $7000. I paid my way through college by selling my coin collection but that is a story for another time.

Several companies make annual pieces like Lalique, Royal Copenhagen, Hummels [Goebels] and then you also have the annual calendar plates. I personally have purchased a Lalique annual plate for $50 and sold it the same day for $500 and likewise with the 1971 Hummel plate that once sold for over $2000. I have purchased several of these and turned them rather quickly. I never sold one that high but I did get $1000 for one once. Often the key piece in a series is the first year that it was made like the 1971 Hummel plate.

Calendar plates from the early 1900's or late 1800's can bring you $5000 or more if they are the right ones. For instance the 1907 Bristol Steel fishing rods and outdoor scene is listed for $5000. I believe you have the picture now but unless you study and know what the key pieces are, they will look just like all the rest of the pieces made by any other company.

I have heard it stated another way by the educated people in this industry. They call the pieces that are highly sought after the "Holy Grail".

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

"Is It Broken?" - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club – You Buy It.

Mechanical Artillery Bank - Thanks to www.toyzine.com

This may seem strange to you but I was just browsing the “ I Antique On Line ” site and came across a gentleman's listing on the "I Wanna Buy" section for a bell yoke. Believe it or not he was willing to pay a fair amount of money for it. You could tell that he was very eager to purchase this part of the bell because more than likely the original yoke had been broken. This got me thinking about how this could help us?

Once I began to think about this I discovered that we may be able to make a lot of money by helping others complete an item that they own that is missing a part. How often have you run across that rare and unusual piece but part of it was broken or missing? This has happened to me more than I would like to think but my attitude has changed. I used to only feel pain because I thought that I had just missed a treasure by a fraction. But no longer is that my feeling. Now I wonder how cheaply I buy that damaged piece.

You see there are two outcomes that can come your way if you buy a rare or unusual item that is damaged for a pittance. First, if you find the person that needs a part on the item that you purchase to complete the item he has. The price that he has to pay for your part may not be relevant to him because your part might increase the value of his item by ten to twenty times. Let's take a mechanical bank as an example. You buy a very rare bank that has some damage for $50 when everyone else thinks it should be thrown away. You, however, know that if it were perfect, its value could be from $3500 to $9500 and to a person needing a part on your bank that isn't broken to make his complete, that fifty dollars could become a thousand very quickly. You may even reverse this situation. Maybe you could find the broken part to fix your bank and then it would be the one that was worth big money. Either way you could come out smelling like a rose.

Where else might we put this to use? How about toys that need a wheel or fire trucks that need a ladder? Both these items could bring top dollar if there is a need for them. Just recently I found a tin toy that was in the shape of a building that had attached signs to it. This was about a $5000 toy I found out as I began to research it. But guess what? When I went to eBay to check the value for this toy, one of the first items listed was one of the small signs that attached to the roof. Are you ready for this? The asking price started at $500. If you were fortune enough to find a horribly damaged item like this but the sign was intact you might be able to be purchase it for under $10.

Some things that people will be looking for to complete their items: cookie jar tops, churn tops, lamp shades, tureen tops, pedestal bases, musical instrument parts and the list could go on and on forever. Yes the value of an item can be reduced to almost nothing when it is damaged but if there are still parts that aren't damaged that can be used to complete another item, those parts can have great value.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

“ Use Your Time Wisely “ - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible blog - God Blessed My Trip.

Family First - Thanks to www.flicker.com

I had promised my brother Roger who lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky that I would visit his church camp for over 15 years, but this year I meant it. As the plans came together, I realized that this also would be a great time to take several items to Cecil in Owensboro, Kentucky to sell for me. Packing 5 paintings, 2 pieces of pottery plus my personal effects that old truck of mine was fairly well packed. I called Cecil to tell him I was leaving and he said  "Daryle, you won't believe this but I think that I already have two of the items sold."

I didn't get to do much shopping on this trip but I did have time to think further about the changes that are in the works for the club. I believe that we are finally getting to where our club should be and soon all the special programs that come with the membership will be functional. I know that it has been a long time coming but anything worth its salt takes time. Hopefully this week I will be announcing new members of our staff that will take over the technical side of our club.

My stated goal when I began the 31 Club [ Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club ] was to provide away for people to have a better life for themselves without having to give someone else thousands of dollars that might not every be returned to them. I hope you remember that verse “Teach someone to fish is better than giving them a fish". That way they will never have to go hungry again. That is what the Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club means to me.

I just received this week's Antique Trader and there are several auctions listed and I haven't heard from many of you asking for advise on items at auction. Take this time to use the club for your reference source so you can start the summer off right. You also have the Askart resource for paintings at your fingertips by just calling or emailing us at the club about any artist that you need information on.

This blog isn't meant to be information about items to add to your search list. I will start that tomorrow, but I would like to conclude it with the blessing I received this weekend. Over twenty years ago I had a friend in Owensboro Kentucky that stood beside me during some very difficult times and we were reunited at the church camp. It was if we had never been separated. For a part of two days, we talked about the blessings that God had given us since we last saw one another and without a doubt those blessings have been numerous. My friend's name is Max and he and his wife are an example of what a marriage should be and he reminded me that God had to be the center of a marriage. Being with them inspired me to come home and double my efforts to help others.

Being with my brother Roger and his children and grandchildren also reminded me of what family is really about and I hope that in coming years that maybe I will be a better family member than I have in past.My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

“ Flash ! New Opportunity “ - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club – What is Hot and What is Not?

Collector Clubs - Thanks to www.news-antiques.com

I have mentioned to our readers that it is often the case that the successful people strike when the iron is hot. There might be an opportunity out there right now that you could capitalize on. Remember when I shared with you about me and my friends starting a Canine magazine and how I made so much money from dog figurines that I was almost ashamed of myself. Yes you heard that right almost. Warner took the Bull by the horns and started the Lotton Club and the rest is history. He is mister Lotton whether anyone likes it or not. Well what do you think about this?

Why doesn't someone start an American Idol Club and handle all the items pertaining to this show and its cast of characters.. As long as the public continues to have a love affair with this show the interest in the memorabilia from it will gain in value. Yes at first most of the items will be fairly cheap but as they are promoted and the common is separated from the rare the values will escalate. I searched but didn't really find anyone taking advantage of this opportunity. Most of the people that are following the show are only interested in what is happening with the characters but I could find very little about the money making opportunities that the show presents.

Here is what I am thinking. Personal items from the hosts would be great. Just think about having tickets signed by Simon Cowell or Paula Abdul don't you think they will appreciate over time. Personal effects such as clothing and even cars that they have owned might fetch a pretty penny in todays markets. Let your mind loose and think of all the things that followers of this show would like to own.

The best part doesn't stop there but continues with every new series when the list of contestants are reduced until there is a fevered pitch to see who the final one standing will be? Now you have an entirely new flood of memorabilia to provide the collector. How about this time when the winner was already basically crowned but Adam Lambert didn't get the crown because he was nosed out by upstart Kris Allen. More things for the collector were just created and you can be the the big dog. My question is who is going to step up and grab this golden ring?

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

"From One Little Worm" - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club – Silk and its Value.

SILKWORM - Thanks to www.everythingabout.net

Why is silk worth so much today and why has it remained the most expensive material for the production of clothing and rugs for thousands of years? That is a great question and I will attempt to answer it for you. Most things that we buy are priced by the amount of time that it takes to produce them and the cost of the materials they are made of. It isn't any different with silk.

It is no wonder that items made from silk are highly sought after today as collectibles and, as a member of Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club, you should be keenly aware of this because it can make you a great amount of money.

Before I share the history of silk with you I want you to hear this little story of a woman who had just started her search for treasures. Since she knew clothing, she decided that this might be her best bet to making money. Attending a house sale and rummaging through some clothing in the master bedroom she came upon a silk dress. At first she was shocked at the price, but should she have been? It was less than $200. Having some knowledge, she recognized that it was a silk designer dress and just had to take it home. Not really knowing what she had, the best thing to do was make some calls which she did. It ended up being made by a very famous designer and sold for over $3000 which I am sure was a bargain because it sold on eBay. At a celebrity clothing auction it is feasible that it could have brought in the tens of thousands. Even though she did well, it might have been in her best interest to do a little more research.

I hope that you will check eBay for completed sales where you will find garments and rugs selling from $1000 to $500,000. While others are seeking to find that special painting or piece of glass the dealers who are knowledgeable on silk are quietly making a killing on silk items because there are so few dealers that recognize the most expensive pieces.

But now the reason why silk is so expensive. The story was that silk making started about 3000 years ago when a lady by the name of Hsi-Ling started raising silkworms and also created a loom. The Chinese were able to keep the secret of silk making to themselves for almost 2000 years but then other cultures developed their own methods of producing silk. Not until recently was it discovered that silk had been produced for 5000 to 6000 years. The Chinese chose a variety of silkworm that was blind and flightless to use and they fed them mulberry leaves. Once the worm gets large enough it spins itself into a cocoon. This takes 8 to 9 days. The worm is then killed in the cocoon by baking it and the cocoon is then unwound. One cocoon will produce 600 to 900 meters of silk which is wound onto a spool.

Here is a little secret for you. All silk was produced for the emperor and his friends and when producing a garment that included a dragon, only the ones with 5 toes went to the royalty. If anyone else who was not royalty was discovered with a garment having a dragon with 5 toes, they were put to death. It was all right, however, if the dragon had 3 toes. I have read this several places and hope that it isn't just an old wife's tale.

Take the time necessary to check garments and rugs to see if they are silk and if they are, give them special attention

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.